Year: 2012

AMC, as expected, has renewed “The Walking Dead” for a fourth season, but the zombie drama will undergo another change at the top as showrunner Glen Mazzara announced that he will be leaving the series.

In a statement, AMC said, “the two parties have mutually decided to part ways.”

“Glen guided the series creatively for seasons 2 and 3,” the statement read. “AMC is grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success. Both parties acknowledge that there is a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways.”

AMC described the decision as “amicable” and said that Mazzara will stay on through post-production on Season 3, which resumes Feb. 10.

“The Walking Dead” is AMC’s biggest hit — and one of the biggest hits on television, becoming the first basic cable show to lead the ratings in the highly coveted adults 18-49 demo. Even so, it has had its share of behind-the-scenes drama. Frank Darabont, who adapted the series from Robert Kirkman’s comic books, was abruptly forced out as showrunner midway through Season 2 for reasons that still haven’t been made clear.

In a separate statement, Mazzara said, “My time as showrunner on ‘The Walking Dead’ has been an amazing experience, but after I finish Season 3, it’s time to move on. I have told the stories I wanted to tell and connected with our fans on a level that I never imagined. It doesn’t get much better than that. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey.”

Meanwhile, Kirkman issued his own extensive statement, saying, “I am in full support of both AMC and Glen Mazzara in the decision they have come to and believe the parties came to this decision in the best interest of the future of the show. I thank Glen for his hard work and appreciate his many contributions to ‘The Walking Dead’ and look forward to working with him as we complete post production on Season 3. I am also excited to begin work on another spectacular season of this show that I know means so much to so many people. This show has always been the result of a wide range of extremely talented men and women working tirelessly to produce their best work collectively. I believe the future is bright for ‘The Walking Dead.’ Thank you to the fans for your continued support.”

Despite those warm-and-fuzzy declarations, you have to wonder what exactly it was about Mazzara’s vision for the show that AMC objected to — and why the network would even want to mess with such amazing success. And “amicable”? Probably not.

Either way, fans have reason to be nervous. Under Mazzara’s direction, “The Walking Dead” became more tense and tough and gripping, even as it did up the gore quotient. The show landed on several end-of-the-year Top 10 lists issued by TV critics.

The likable country crooner, who had put his musical dreams on hold to provide for his family, was crowned the Season 2 winner of “The X Factor” Thursday night at the end of an outrageously bloated two-hour finale that aired on Fox. With the victory, he earns a $5 million recording contract with Sony Music.

Stevens, 37, beat out teen dynamo Carly Rose Sonenclar, who finished in second, and the prefab girl group Fifth Harmony.

More than 35 million votes were cast by viewers after Wednesday’s performance show.

“First and foremost I have to thank the man upstairs for taking care of me,” Stevens said after being declared the winner. “To my family all the county music fans, God bless you. Thank you so much for the votes. This is the best day of my life.”

Stevens’ victory came as no major surprise. He had spent more time atop the reality show’s leader board than any other contestant. A native of the small town of Belton, Mo., he was bolstered by an aw-shucks, everyman appeal and consistently rock-solid vocals.

That, and Stevens’ endearing back story, made it difficult not to root for him. He had put his hopes of a music career on the back burner in order to draw a steady paycheck. And it wasn’t until his wife, Ashlie, pushed him to revisit his dream did he audition for “The X factor.”

Stevens, who finished off the night by singing “Tomorrow,” was mentored this season by L.A. Reid, who has announced that he will not return as a judge next season.

The country singer’s coronation didn’t come until after two hours of reality show filler that included cheesy, choreographed red-carpet arrivals, a few holiday tunes, several wardrobe changes by Khloe Kardashian, and more recap footage than even the most devoted fan could stand.

The finale also featured performances by only two guest acts — Pitbull and One Direction, the latter group having already performed on “The X Factor” earlier this season. It terms of star power, it was downright anemic compared to Tuesday night’s finale of “The Voice,” which welcomed Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne, the Killers, Smokey Robinson and Peter Frampton.

Midway through Thursday’s “X Factor” show, the final three acts convened on the stage and it was announced that Fifth Harmony had finished third. The group was made of five singers who entered the competition as soloists before being thrown together. They spent much of the season as underdogs who started in the middle of the pack and then made a spirited charge into the finals.

“I have a feeling that we’re going to be hearing and seeing a lot more of these girls in the future,” said Simon Cowell, who mentored Fifth Harmony.

Toward the end of the evening, Stevens and Sonenclar combined for a duet on “The Climb,” the inspirational hit made famous by Miley Cyrus, finishing it off with high-fives and a hug.

The revelation that Dead Space 3 would introduce co-op to the series brought a mild uproar from fans. They said it took the scare out of the game. Critics said the franchise was turning to Resident Evil, which is to say it’s stumbling into a creative quagmire, but those proclaiming doom and gloom for Visceral Games’ flagship franchise may have jumped the gun.

I had a chance recently to sit in on a demo of the survival horror game at EA’s winter preview this month, and after speaking with producer John Calhoun, the prognosis for a frightful Dead Space 3 is looking brighter … or maybe that should scarier.

Insomniac Games knows how to create imaginative weapons. It’s one of the developer’s calling cards. Go through the team’s body of work with the likes of Ratchet and Clank and the Resistance franchises, and players will see weapons like the Auger, an alien firearm that shoots through walls, or the Chimp-o-Matic, a gun that turns targets into chimpanzees.

That same level of creativity is going into Fuse, a new IP from the Burbank-based developer. I had a chance to play the campaign of the four-player co-op game at a recent EA preview event. I played as Naya Devereaux, who is the stealth character of the group. In the short demo that players experienced, the group of misfit agents, Overstrike 9, are in the Karakoram Mountains in Pakistan, chasing after an organization called Raven that has taken these alien Fuse weapons.

Back in 1992, I was disappointed with Alien 3. Expecting another tension-filled action flick, I got a slow-moving film that expanded the fiction but didn’t particularly grab me the way the previous ones had. It was a decent movie but it failed to live up to the past two’s standards. (Let’s ignore the Dumpster fire that is Alien: Resurrection.)

Fast-forward more than 20 years later and those hoping for a real sequel to Aliens may finally have their prayers answered. Thanks to Gearbox Software, gamers will have an opportunity to go back to LV-426 and the warship Sulaco. Taking place 17 weeks after the events of the James Cameron film, Aliens: Colonial Marines puts players in the role of Col. Christopher Winter who is aboard the Sephora.

They’re responding to the distress signal sent out by Corporal Hicks in Aliens. They arrive to see the Sulaco still orbiting the planet for some reason, and it’s the location for one of the two levels that I played during a preview event last week in San Francisco. Winter and his comrades board the derelict ship only to find out that the Weyland-Yutani corporation has taken over it. They were using it as some kind of lab.

It’s hard to believe that there’s a third Army of Two game coming out. It makes you wonder how this happens. The premise of the franchise has always been rock solid. The buddy co-op experience is smart in concept; it was the execution that was always off.

The problem is that the series never found the right tone between the two protagonists — Salem and Rios. The first game was an action flick with frat house humor. In the sequel, Army of Two: The 40th Day, EA Montreal took a more serious, brooding tack, taking the pair on a dark journey in Shanghai.

The latest entry, Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel, seems more like a reboot of sorts. First off, there are two new protagonists Alpha and Bravo. They’re rookies working for Salem and Rios. The adventure takes place in Mexico as the newly assembled team are looking for kidnapped women across the border.

The Crysis series is known for two things: The sumptuous visuals and an engine that can bring the most powerful gaming rigs to its knees. One is the result of another. If you want those bleeding-edge graphics, be sure the graphics card and processors can pump out the necessary polygons, shaders, textures, etc.

It’s something that the developer, Crytek, seems to take pride in. The team can create some of the most stunning games this side of DICE and Battlefield 3. With Crysis 3, it’s no different. I had a chance to play early parts of the game on the PC at an Electronic Arts preview event this week.

Set in 2047, more than 20 years after the events of Crysis 2, players enter a New York that has been isolated in the Liberty Dome. It’s a structure set up by the C.E.L.L. corporation in response to the Ceph invasion that was central to the previous game. It’s a gorgeous world that Crytek created, turning the Big Apple into a literal urban jungle as the Ceph remnants and nature retake the landscape. There are swamps in Chinatown and tall grass that cover empty stretches of the city. It’s a look that’s migrated from I Am Legend to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West toRevolution and now here.

If there was any franchise that needed a reboot, it would be hers. She’s long overdue for one but if a developer put out a prettier version of Tomb Raider where she jumps over impossible gaps and clings on ledges, it would be a disappointment. And if they released a version with new gameplay mechanics but the same heroine, it would feel like a half step.

A reboot needs to tackle the franchise from a fresh perspective, and with Tomb Raider, which comes out in March 5, 2013, it looks like Crystal Dynamics is doing just that. After playing four hours at a preview event, I’m excited with the direction the developer is taking the series. It’s grittier. It’s more cinematic. But ultimately, what makes this iteration of Tomb Raider so fascinating is Crystal Dynamic’s take on Lara Croft herself. The game follows the heroine in her early adulthood. Call it Tomb Raider: Year One or The Young Lara Croft Chronicles.

As we get closer to its Feb. 26, 2013, launch date, more details are being released about BioShock Infinite. The most recent bit of news is the reveal of the box art. I posted the PlayStation 3 art on top because it’s the most interesting. As we revealed at a previous E3, the game does still support PlayStation Move controls and as a benefit, players get the originalBioShock for free.

Overall, I like the look of it. It reminds me a lot of Uncharted with the way Booker DeWitt, I assume that’s him, holds a gun with his right hand the flames leaping out in front. It’s funny but I never imagined him looking like that. I figured he’d be a guy with a mustache and bowler hat. He looks more like a dressed up cowboy. On the top left corner, you can see a zeppelin, which hints at Columbia. It’s a striking, colorful cover. I dig it. What do you guys think?

It’s interesting to see how downloadable content gets added to a game. Sometimes the entry point to the postlaunch missions are transparent. They’re shown locked away behind closed doors in the game world. Other times, they arrive in a subtle way via an odd email that leads to an investigation and a grand adventure.

With XCOM: Enemy Uknown and its Slingshot DLC, players will have to start from scratch. But that’s not a bad thing when it comes to XCOM, a strategy game where every choice creates a different experience and a new avenue for that just-one-more-turn addiction. The DLC, which will run you $6.99 on PSN/PC and 560 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live, offers players three new story-driven missions focused on a new character named Shaojie Zhang.

Once you start over, the content pops up as council missions. Players can choose to do them at any time, but it’s best to tackle them early because of the rewards involved. In the first mission, players are actually sent to rescue Zhang who is carrying some mysterious gear.